


Happy Birthday

by FuryTigresse



Series: After The Nightmare [3]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Birthday, Birthday Presents, DMC 5 spoilers, DMC5 Post-Game, Family, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, I don't have a great sense of humor, I tried being funny, Post Devil May Cry 5, Post-Game, Spoilers, Vergil Headcanons, my apologies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuryTigresse/pseuds/FuryTigresse
Summary: [Spoilers for Devil May Cry 5] It's Dante and Vergil's birthday, and Nero is struggling to find something to give his father as a present.





	Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set between the events of _A Time Long Since Gone_ and _Turning the Page_. It's basically happening about two months after Vergil and Dante come back from Hell.
> 
> English isn't my first language, so let me know if you see weird sentences or typos!

Nero stepped out of the van with a little smile, Nico following suit. They were in town for a few things, the main and most important of which being that they had some new prototype weapons to bring for Dante, Lady and Trish. They would also use that time to hit the stores. There was more variety here than in Fortuna.

So, while Nico went off on her own to grab some new, specific tools, Nero headed towards that pizzeria Dante always ordered from. Once in there, his order was simple: a gift card that he would then give Dante for his birthday, which was coming up in a bit more than a week. It was the same thing he did every year, but he knew that Dante would never complain about free pizza. Especially lately.

Long story short, after Dante and Vergil had come back from Hell, Dante had gone back to his shop while Vergil had stayed in Fortuna for a little while, about six weeks or so. He had lived with Nero, Kyrie, Nico and the orphans, although he had barely even been present. Then, he had - reluctantly - left for Devil May Cry in order to crash at Dante's place for a moment while he was looking for an apartment. Dante had refused a freeloader living with him, so he had turned Vergil - after much debate, fighting and back-and-forth stabbing - into his very reluctant assistant and secretary. Vergil was now managing the business' money and, Nero had been told, being way too good at it. Vergil was not a man of superfluous anything; the first budget cut had been Dante's favorite food. Restaurant was expensive, especially with the frequency of Dante's orders, and Vergil would have none of that making a hole in the budget. Apparently, from what Nero had heard, the Legendary Devil Hunter was having pizza withdrawal symptoms, so there was indeed _no_ risk whatsoever that Dante would refuse the gift.

So, that part was easy. Another easy part was getting Dante out of the shop in order to talk to him, which Nero needed to do right now. He just had to invite him for lunch at the pizzeria. He had asked why Dante didn't just disobey Vergil and get some pizza anyway, since that was technically _his_ money, but apparently that wasn't an option: Vergil's first move - out of spite or out of efficiency, no one knew - had been to change the password and PIN of the business account, thus only leaving Dante with his own. Smart move on Vergil's part, and Nero mentally thanked his father when he stepped into the office, as that made his life easier.

The first thing he noticed was the silence. The jukebox was usually functioning, and pretty loudly at that, but not now. Since the lights were on, it wasn't because the electric bill hadn't been paid. Curious. Nero also noticed that several weapons were missing from the walls. He approached the desk with a raised eyebrow. Dante was there, feet propped up, his chair balancing on two legs, a magazine covering his face. At least _that_ part was normal.

"Uh, Dante?"

A deep sigh was heard and Dante sat straight, bringing his chair back on all four. He put the magazine down and looked at Nero with the most tired expression the younger Devil Hunter had ever seen on him.

"Ah. Hey, kid," Dante greeted him, without his usual energy. "What brings you here?"  
"Got some prototypes from Nico that she wants you guys to try out. Anyway, what's with that _face_?"

Dante faceplanted on his desk with a groan.

"I shouldn't have asked my dumbass brother to manage anything here. He took away my pizza! And he sold so many of my weapons I had to hide the rest!"  
"Yeah, I noticed the missing weapons. Weren't they all fake ones though? You never use them in battle for anything."  
"That's called decor, kid! How do you want people to take me seriously otherwise?"  
"They're gonna take you more seriously if you've got electricity, but hey, who am I to judge."

There was a beat of silence, and then Nero spoke again.

"Yeah, so, anyway, except for the prototypes, there's also something I wanted to ask you. Wanna go eat out? I can pay for pizza."

Life immediately came back into Dante's eyes, and he jumped on his feet right away, suddenly energetic again.

"If there's pizza, I'm in!" He turned towards the stairs. "HEY VERGIL! Watch the shop for me!"  
"Get lost, little brother! I'm busy!" a familiar voice shouted back from somewhere upstairs.  
"I'm going out for pizza! Be back later!"

They heard furious stomping approaching, but Dante dragged Nero outside with a wide shit-eating grin, closing the door before Vergil could get them. He laughed once outside, proud of himself.

"He can't give me shit and take away my pizza more than he already did, and his sense of duty will keep him here for now, so let's go, kid!"

They headed for the pizzeria and got a table, Dante ordering the food for the two of them. They soon found themselves facing three large pizzas. The Legendary Devil Hunter started eating like a starving man, while Nero was a little more reserved about it.

"Hm, so," Dante started between two bites, "what was it you wanted to ask?"  
"Well, first, I want updates on what's going on at the shop. Anything new?"  
"You mean with my dumbass brother? He's managing the money, is what's happening! He threatened to destroy the jukebox if he hears it and he's making me accept _every_ job or else he's gonna sell Cavaliere!"  
"Even shady jobs where the client is probably not gonna pay?"  
"Oh, that's not the problem, he goes money-collecting in my stead. Gets double the agreed amount _every time_."

Nero couldn't help but smile at that mental image. For some reason, that wasn't all that hard to imagine. "You paying him well for keeping you debt-free?"  
"Yeah, but he spends just about everything I give him on _books_. He has like, two bookshelves entirely full by now. What an idiot."  
"But he's worth it?"  
"What, worried that he's as terrible a secretary as he's a terrible father? You're kinda right, kid. The only reason he picks up the phone when I'm not there is because the girls won't do it and the constant ringing Triggers him. But enough about that dumbass. You invited me here for another reason, even I can tell this much."  
"Yeah. See, there's... something happening in a bit more than a week. And I wanted some help."  
"Stop stalling, kid."  
"Okay, _fine_! What the fuck can I get him for his birthday?"

Indeed, that was the real reason behind inviting Dante out to eat. Obviously, Vergil's birthday was at the same time as Dante's, but the older twin was _much_ harder to figure out. Almost everything that Nero knew about him came from just noticing things while Vergil had stayed with them in Fortuna. For example, he knew that Vergil was always up at ungodly hours, way before the sun would even start coloring the sky. Books had been disappearing left and right, only to later reappear neatly placed on the shelf, so Nero supposed that his father was always on a quest for reading material. In fact, considering that everything that was just lying around eventually disappeared only to reappear where it belonged, and Nero knew for a fact that Kyrie was too busy to do it, he could guess that Vergil was a very tidy person.

Nero had also noticed some very faint classical music coming from the guest room at some point. Kyrie had told him that she had brought Vergil a little radio, so the music in itself wasn't surprising. And the choice of it neither, actually. As for the volume, it _also_ wasn't really a surprise that Vergil wouldn't listen to anything too loud. He was the exact opposite of Dante in that way.

Other than that, Vergil had mostly been a ghost more than an inhabitant of the house, rarely showing himself, especially when the kids were around. The most time Nero had spent with his father was when he'd provoke him to try and get a reaction from him, and it would end into a swordfight with Vergil commenting on Nero's posture or technique between two simple, efficient attacks with the Yamato. They didn't speak all that much during combat except for that, and Nero insulting his father to try and coax some attacks out of him so he could try to parry them.

So, in the end, all that Nero _knew_ about Vergil was his love for reading, listening to classical music, and fighting. He supposed his father also had a preference for the color blue, but that was of no help whatsoever in choosing a gift for him. Mostly, the problem was that Nero didn't want to just get Vergil a gift card for a bookstore, as that didn't feel personal enough, but he was almost certain his father would already have the book he'd give him, if he did choose such a gift. And since Nero knew nothing about classical music, that was out of the question. A fight wasn't something very birthday-like. Maybe a blue coat then? Nero actually doubted Vergil would wear it, there were more risks that the hue wouldn't be to his liking.

Either way, Dante's grin was seriously making Nero consider activating his Devil Trigger. He could see the amusement mixed with some mockery, and he temporarily empathized with his father, who had to deal with this shit everyday.

"Aaaah, I see. Wanna please your old man, uh? Well, that ain't gonna be easy."  
"That's why I'm asking _you_ , Dante. You're the one who knows him the best, even if you guys spend your time fighting."  
"It's not because he's my brother that I know him really all that well, you know. He's probably told you more about himself than he's ever told me."  
"But-"  
"Lemme finish, kid. What I'm saying is, you're not gonna get a good, valid answer from me. The only real family bonding we ever get done is when we go at each other, sword in hand. So I think you're better placed than I am to find an idea, unless you want to give him a girlfriend and hope that loosens the giant stick he's got up his butt."

Nero sighed, quietly taking a bite of pizza. Dante was right, and Nero probably shouldn't have expected a serious answer out of him. It was true that bonding with fights didn't help much in that regard, and since fighting was the only activity those two did together...

"Guess I'll have to ask someone else, then. Thanks anyway, Dante. Enjoy the pizza."

***

"Nero, you're being weird and twitchy. What's wrong?"  
"Sorry, Lady. I was just thinking... you spend quite some time at Devil May Cry these days, right?"

Lady nodded, leaning back against the wall. Nero had tracked her into the city, trying to catch up with her before she'd go back to the shop. He didn't want Vergil to know he was planning something. He had finally caught her after a good hour, and she had stopped when she had spotted him, letting him join her.

"I'm trying to buy a gift for my father," he explained. "What do you think I should give him?"

He noticed Lady lowering her eyes, and suddenly he knew her answer before she had even spoken. She still said it, her voice softer than usual.

"The last time I saw my father, all I gave him was death. I don't think you should ask me."  
"Right. Sorry. Thanks anyway, Lady."

***

Nero's next stop was the shop in order to find Trish. Apparently, V had opened up to her at some point, and he was a part of Vergil, so Nero was hoping that the demon lady knew something that could help him.

He went in, only to find Vergil reading on the couch, his own expression entirely unreadable. The half-demon's icy gaze shifted up towards Nero, who mentally sighed, lips tightly pressed together, a little displeased. Exactly the person he didn't want to see. Not because he didn't want to see his father, but because he was trying to gather information about him without him knowing. Vergil, however, seemed to misinterpret Nero's expression, and his eyes darkened a little as he lowered them back to his book. _Heart of Darkness_ , Nero could see on the cover.

"If you're looking for Dante, he's not back yet," the older man said coldly.

Nero was a little taken aback, but he shook his head. Their relationship still wasn't very good or very solid, so this felt awkward still. It wasn't really surprising, with Vergil just hiding away the entire time he had spent in Fortuna.

"I'm looking for Trish, actually. Nico made her a new weapon," he chose to answer. Not technically a lie, but that wasn't why he wanted to see her.  
"A new weapon, uh?" a feminine voice replied from the stairs.

Trish was looking good - as usual -, walking down to join Nero, her long hair flowing gracefully behind her. She ignored Vergil entirely and planted herself in front of Nero, arms crossed on her chest.

"Well, let's see what it looks like," she told him.

Nero nodded quickly and turned around, refusing to look at Trish's cleavage. She was apparently the spitting image of his _grandmother_ , goddamnit. This was _wrong_. Once he was outside with the thick door closed behind them, he sighed and looked at Trish again, making a point of only looking at her face.

"The weapon Nico made for you is in the van. But before that, I need to ask you something."  
"Figured as much. Go ahead."  
"Do you have an idea for something I could get for my father's birthday? Since you spoke to V and all."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Except giving him a life so he leaves and we can start having actual fun again at the shop? Not really. He's not much of a party guy, is he."  
"Yeah, I know. Sorry that he's being such an ass."  
"No need to apologize for him. Anyway! What about this weapon?"

Nero laughed a little and went into the van, pulling out the prototypes Nico had been working on. He brought everything inside and let Trish play with hers, setting the other ones aside for now. Soon, they were joined by the other demon hunters and by Nico, who spent the rest of the afternoon showing off her genius. Vergil disappeared at some point when Dante went crazy with a weapon that was basically a mechanical imitation of Nero's spectral arms, clawing and grabbing in the same way his own did in battle. If anyone noticed the older twin's disappearance except for Nero, however, they didn't remark on it, and soon enough the younger Devil Hunter forgot about that, too busy with fighting off some attacks from the others using the prototype weapons.

In the end, Nico and he left in the middle of the afternoon, and Nero quickly stuck his head out the window, trying to escape Nico's nicotine breath.

"So, ya just did some window-shoppin' today? I don't see no new thing here."  
"..."  
"I heard ya talked to all three demon hunters, learned anythin' new?"  
"..."  
"Hey, who pissed in your Cheerios, demon boy?"

Nero turned at that, frowning at Nico. "What the fuck?"  
"Geez you're in a worse mood than usual! You wanna talk about it?"

The Devil Hunter sighed and looked out the window again, rolling it up, abandoning the idea of breathing fresh air. He was pretty sure Nico wouldn't be of any help, but...

"Just trying to find something to give to my father for his birthday," he mumbled, just loud enough that Nico would hear.  
"Good at kicking demon ass but crap at being a son, uh?"  
"Shut up. Betting you don't have any idea either."  
"Who do you think you're talking to? I _always_ have ideas, and I got one for this too! And I _know_ it's something he doesn't have."  
"... what would that be?"  
"A sense of humor, duh!"

Nero banged his head against the window. He shouldn't have expected anything serious coming from Nico either. He got up with a groan and headed for the mini-fridge.

He was seriously considering just... giving up and not giving Vergil anything. The half-demon wasn't a great father by any stretch of the imagination, so why would Nero need to be a good son? Plus, everyone seemed to have a very low opinion of Vergil, so it wasn't like he actually really deserved a gift.

"Hey, whatcha taking from my fridge, asshole?" Nico called out.  
"Stop bitchin', I'm just getting a drink!" he grumbled as he opened the mini-fridge's door.

He was expecting some energy drinks - something he had put there - or maybe a few soft drinks - something Nico would have put there -, or even some water bottles - something Kyrie made sure they had at all times. Sometimes they had fast food, or easy-to-eat meals like sandwiches from the grocery store, all wrapped in plastic.

But what Nero found was a stack of glass containers filled to the brim with what looked like various kinds of homemade food, two reusable bottles of iced tea, and a bunch of smaller containers filled with carefully cut fruits or vegetables. Nero knew for a fact that they weren't there when they left this morning. The fridge was _never_ so full of food.

"Nico?"  
"Whassup?"  
"Did you uh, cook or something?"  
"I was busy all day, why would I be cookin'?"  
"There's food in the fridge. Homemade food."  
"What?!"  
"I'm serious, and just- fucking pay attention to the road, damn it!"  
"Whaddya _mean_ there's homemade food in that fridge?!" Nico asked after she was in control of the situation again.  
"What _else_ could I mean?!"  
"That's weird!"  
"I know!"

Was it really though? Nero frowned when he remembered the events of the day. How they had all been having fun with the prototype weapons, and then suddenly Vergil had been gone. Nero had assumed that his father had just left because they were too loud for him, but...

Uh.

He grabbed a small container of fruits and went back to the passenger seat, thoughtful. There was no way...

"Hey, you think my father can cook?"  
"I dunno. Never seen 'im in the kitchen back home, but that's just me, I never hang around the kitchen anyway."  
"Right."

He'd have to ask Kyrie. Knowing her, she had probably figured Vergil out completely within the first few minutes of him even existing in her general vicinity. Plus, if Vergil had helped with the meals, she'd be the one who'd know.

***

They arrived home a bit before dinnertime, and Nero immediately went to look for Kyrie. He found her reading in the kitchen while something was baking, and he joined her quickly. She smiled when she saw him and put her book down.

"Hey, I'm back," Nero couldn't help but state the obvious.  
"Welcome home," Kyrie chuckled. "How was your trip?"  
"It was good. It was..."

He decided to talk about that later. For now...

"Kyrie... when my father was here, did he help you with cooking sometimes?"  
"Almost everyday, you mean. He told me not to mention it during the meals, although I wanted everyone to thank him. Is something the matter?"  
"He can _cook_?"  
"Of course. He's incredibly efficient at cutting, although that won't surprise anyone. Why the sudden interest?"  
"There's homemade food in the van's mini-fridge. It wasn't there this morning."

Kyrie smiled, a little amused by Nero's discouraged expression. "Then it was his doing."  
"Damn it."  
"Nero."  
"Sorry."

That made things complicated again. If Vergil truly was the one behind this, and everything seemed to indicate that he was, then that meant he was making efforts at being a better father, or a better person in general at least. And him doing that meant that Nero felt like he had to at least _try_ being a decent son too. He couldn't let his father one-up him.

That meant that the search for a birthday present was valid again. Nero turned into a puddle of despair on the table at that thought. "I need to find him a present, then. Shit! I mean, shoot! Urgh. I don't _know_ what to get him! I asked like, _everyone_."  
"Why don't you get him tickets for a play? There's one that's being played not too far from Dante's office, and it's apparently very good."

That made Nero snap out of his puddle state and he sat straight again, frowning. "Tickets? For a play? Why a play and why the plural?"

Kyrie quirked an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "A play because he really likes theater, and tickets because you'll go see it with him of course."  
"You can't be serious."  
"I am very serious, Nero. Your father loves plays, he told me while we were cooking. It was great knowing more about him."  
"A play. That I'm gonna go see with him."  
"I think that would work. You just need to go buy the tickets soon, or else there won't be any left. You can order them by phone."  
"... right."

Going to see a play with his father. Geez. That would be weird. But why not? It was a great idea. Not only would it be something that Vergil liked - Nero fully trusted Kyrie on that, especially considering the way V had taunted demons before -, it would also be something they could share, something that would prove that Nero was willing to try learning how to son as long as Vergil was trying to learn how to dad.

He offered Kyrie a sweet kiss to thank her, then went toward the closest phone to order the tickets.

***

Nero stepped inside Devil May Cry on the twins' birthday, knowing full well that Vergil would be the only person in the shop. In the letter the Devil Hunter had sent to Dante to wish him a happy birthday and give him the gift card, he had also asked him to make sure that Vergil would be on his own on their birthday. Apparently, it wasn't all that complicated. Dante had called him later - using a pay phone to make sure Vergil was not going to hear any of it - to tell him that he planned on going to celebrate with pizza and the other demon hunters, and there was no way that Vergil would want to join them.

And he was seemingly right, because Vergil was alone in the office, reading on the couch, his full attention focused on the pages. This time, he was reading some Shakespeare. His cold gaze shifted to Nero when his son went inside, and the young man noticed a slight frown and some confusion in his father's eyes.

"Dante is out, and so are Lady and Trish," Vergil informed him.

Nero took note of that. That was the second time his father was telling him the whereabouts of someone else before even greeting him. Did he not think that anyone would ever visit him, specifically? Time to change that.

"I came to see you, actually."

He handed Vergil the small wrapped box, ignoring the surprise in Vergil's icy eyes. The half-demon slowly put his book down and reached out, the confusion and surprise growing. He took the box, and carefully unwrapped it, making sure not to rip anything. For some reason, Nero wasn't surprised by that. He imagined Dante to be one who destroyed wrappings, so Vergil _had_ to be the opposite. However, he _was_ surprised that Vergil stared at him the entire time. Apparently he was expecting this to be a joke, or something like that.

"So uh. Well. Happy birthday... dad," Nero said when Vergil finally held the tickets.

Oh shit this felt weird. It was the first time he was actually calling Vergil "dad". Usually he either called him some variety of "asshole" or a defiant, challenging version of "father". Vergil seemed surprised too at the word, but it was lost amongst the other mixed emotions in his eyes, none of it showing on his face except for the deep frown he sported almost 24/7. Despite everything though, Nero could easily guess what his father felt like at the moment: Vergil had no idea how he was supposed to react to receiving a gift. The young Devil Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, awkward.

"It... it was Kyrie's idea actually. I tried finding something, but she knows more about you than I do, so... anyway, I thought it was a great idea. You know... going to see a play together. A father-and-son activity that doesn't involve stabbing each other."

Vergil kept quiet for a moment, his eyes lowering towards the tickets. He then looked back at Nero, and his expression softened. "I... gratefully accept."

Nero grinned, pleased, and extremely relieved. "Sweet! I mean... great. Cool. I uh... well, it's in eleven days, so... I guess I'll see you then?"

Vergil got up, slipped the tickets in the inner pocket of his signature coat, and looked at Nero. "Evidently. However, we've a matter to settle before that. Come."

He headed upstairs, leaving behind the book he had been reading, to Nero's surprise. The Devil Hunter followed his father after a minute and found him in the kitchen, his coat on a chair with his fingerless gloves nearby. Vergil was already wielding a knife with the same deadly precision he showed in battle, cutting vegetables while some water was on the fire on the side.

"Inviting me for dinner?" Nero asked with a little smile.  
"Hm."

Nero just chuckled and took a seat. He was really useless in a kitchen, and he was a guest, so he figured he could let his father do all the work. "Hey, it's not because I'm suggesting an activity that doesn't involve fighting that I'm not determined to kick your ass again, by the way. I'll beat you for sure next time."

He kept on taunting his father after that, trying to see if he could get a reaction, until Vergil just turned a little. "Thank you, Nero."

The Devil Hunter had expected an answer to his taunting, but he wouldn't complain about some thanks. He grinned and sat back, and watched as his father wielded the blade, for once, for an excellent reason.


End file.
